Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Fri, Jun 19 1992 Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 05:24:16 EDT Message-ID: 06-19 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update June 19-21, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network LONDON FIRM INTERESTED IN UPI: Middle East Broadcasting Centre, a London-based financial-news network, says it has offered to pay $3.5 million cash for UPI, which is in bankruptcy reorganization. But the wire service says it is only allowed to talk to investors led by lawyer Leon Charney. Charney paid $180,000 to keep UPI running through Monday and is looking at its finances to decide whether to buy the wire service. INTEL, AMD SUIT STILL PAYING: Advanced Micro Devices, which lost a court battle with Intel Wednesday, has more legal work ahead. Intel is suing AMD for using microcode software in AMD's 386 chip clone, meaning AMD could lose the rights to build that chip. Wednesday, a jury ruled that AMD doesn't have rights to use crucial software from arch-rival Intel to build a computer chip that mimics Intel's 486 microprocessor. OWNERSHIP OF MINERALS IN DOUBT: A federal judge in Denver Friday hears arguments in a suit to determine who owns minerals produced from coal beds under the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. The judge in April approved class-action status for the defendants, who include Amoco Production Co., 19 other oil firms and 20,000 private mineral owners. COMMITTEE VOTES FOR PRESERVE: The House Agriculture Committee voted Thursday to create a 6.8-million-acre forest preserve in the Pacific Northwest where logging would be banned to protect rare northern spotted owls. Timber harvests would be cut to about half the level of the 1980s. The proposal is opposed by timber interests, due to potential job losses, and by environmentalists, who want a much larger area. BILL OUTLAWS SALE TO MINORS: The Louisiana Legislature passed a bill Thursday to outlaw sale to minors of music which has lyrics that pertain to suicide, homicide, rape or cult rites. Gov. Edwin Edwards promised a veto, citing problems with government dictating "what books people can read, what poetry they can read, what songs they can sing." Retailers could be jailed for six months and fined $500. N.C. PROGRAM MAKING PROGRESS: North Carolina's state Occupational Safety and Health Program, criticized after a Sept. 3 fire killed 25 poultry plant workers in Hamlet, is making satisfactory progress toward improvement, federal regulators said Thursday. The U.S. Labor Department, citing pending changes, suspended its threat to take over the state job-safety program. NETWORKS CAN OWN CABLE FIRMS: The Federal Communications Commission ruled Thursday that television broadcast networks can own cable systems and vice versa -opening the door for CBS, ABC, NBC or Fox Broadcasting to buy into the systems that deliver cable television service to consumers' homes. The FCC said it took the action to remove restrictions that were hurting the networks' ability to remain competitive. NETWORK LIMIT PUT AT 10%: Under a ruling made by the Federal Communications Commission Thursday, a company with network and cable system interests is limited in its cable interests to 10% of homes nationwide with access to cable and 50% of homes in a broadcast market. However, the FCC said it won't apply the 50% local limit in cases where the network-owned cable system competes with another cable system. COURT VOTES TO BAR STATES: The Supreme Court voted 5-4 Thursday to bar states from imposing licensing and training requirements for hazardous waste site workers without federal approval. In an Illinois case, justices said states are pre-empted by federal Occupational Safety and Health Act rules. PART OF TAX STRUCK DOWN: In a 7-2 vote Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down part of Iowa's corporate income tax, saying it discriminates against foreign commerce. The justices said states can't tax dividends businesses receive from foreign subsidiaries while exempting domestic subsidiaries. THREE ACCUSED OF RUNNING SCAM: Monterey (Calif.) County authorities accused three men Wednesday of running a nationwide telemarketing scam that bilked senior citizens out of nearly $400,000. The alleged con artists telephoned victims, telling them they were big winners in the "Double Canadian Sweepstakes," the district attorney's office said. "Winners" had to send money for "tax" before receiving prizes. SPRAY PAINT BAN CHALLENGED: A ban on the sale of spray paint, passed last month by the Chicago City Council as an anti-graffiti measure, was challenged in U.S. District Court Thursday by plaintiffs including Chicago hardware stores and the National Paint & Coatings Association. The action, filed in the Northern District of Illinois, seeks to overturn the ban, scheduled to take effect in late July. Business Law Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM